Hughes' Visit
Saint Alphonsus Performance
First on Langston Hughes’ Negro History Week itinerary list, devised by Librarian Elizabeth Jenkins, was Saint Alphonsus School. There, students recited his longest published poem “Freedom’s Plow” back to him. In his news column in the Chicago Defender, the impressed poet wrote:
“Mrs. Elizabeth Jenkins, charming and efficient librarian of the Wilson County Negro Library, had arranged a busy day for me beginning at the St. Alphonsus Catholic School where the Negro nuns had an assembly of tiny youngsters who did all by themselves a fine Negro History program. It closed with a rendition of my “Freedom’s Plow” by apt little boys and girls who knew every line of it.”
An interview with two witnesses to the event will be uploaded shortly.
History of the Church & School
The information provided below comes from the historical African American blog, Black Wide Awake, written by Wilson history and genealogy researcher, Lisa Y. Henderson. Black Wide Awake focuses on the historical documentation and genealogical research of Wilson's past Black community.
For a more extensive history of the Saint Alphonsus School, please see Saint Alphonsus School.
Wilson, NC's St. Alphonsus School began as a predominantly Black Catholic church by Redemptorist Priests to honor their founder, St. Alphonsus Mary De Liguori of Naples. In 1948, the church purchased an Army PX and was converted into the Saint Alphonsus School, modifying its rooms into classes, offices, and assemblies. Nuns of the Oblate Sisters of Providence taught at the school. Financial concerns eventually led Saint Alphonsus to merge with Saint Therese’s School, ultimately merging the two Parishes by 1970. The previous church and school went on to house Kiddie Kollege of Knowledge, a private African American kindergarten school.
Articles
March 30, 1942, the Wilson Daily Times published this article about the dedication of the church (Click to view the full photos):
Hundreds of people-both Black and White-came out to see the cornerstone of St. Alphonsus’s church being laid. At the time, it made the 15th Catholic parish in North Carolina. Bishop McGuinness, the dedicator, informed everyone that St. Alphonsus isn’t meant to replace other churches, but to bring in those without a church home. The Redemptorist Fathers built a rectory next to the church for the pastor and his assistant.
An additional article from Wilson Daily Times on September 9, 1948 on the opening of St. Alphonsus School:
Presently
Address: 810 Reid St E, Wilson, NC 27893
The St. Alphonsus building now serves as a community center owned by the Catholic Diocese in Raleigh, NC. The building is still used for worship services and community-wide events.
